But I Thought That Was the Future
by TaraAmber
Summary: A girl from the 'real world' stumbles upon the world of Bablylon 5. But even if B-5 were real, wouldn't it be in the future? And what is up with that disembodied voice? Well, things do happen for a reason....
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: But I Thought It Would Be Fun

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Babylon 5, who don't show up in this chapter, but will show up soon, I promise. I do own the character of Jaci and the man who gives her a strange look, who will never show up again in this story. I also own the disembodied voice, which you find out more about later.

Authors note: As you may have noticed, I have edited the story a bit. The plot hasn't really changed at all. The only thing that has, really, is that pesky disembodied voice. To tell you the truth, it wasn't supposed to be in the story at all, but then it popped in and refused to leave. Since Jaci is not the only one who can hear it, I knew that it wasn't her inner voice, so I decided to say it was the narrator. The tricky little thing kept its true identity from me until recently. Therefore I have edited. Hope you like how it's going. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I really need to get out of here, " Jaci said to herself. "This is crazy. So much for the informative tour I was hoping for." A man standing near her gave her a strange look. "I really need to stop talking to myself. Dang, there I go again."

She stopped to stare at a picture. What building was she in anyways? She couldn't remember anymore. Jaci had thought she would enjoy this tour, the name of which she could no longer remember due to the pounding in her head. Sure, science wasn't her strong point, but she liked space, as in outer space, and she liked looking at the stars. So when this tour came to her attention, it seemed like she'd enjoy it. Apparently, when they said they would spend a brief time on the outer space part, they weren't kidding. It had been very brief. Jaci snapped back into the present when she noticed something strange-- it was all quiet. She turned from the picture. Oops. She'd lost her tour group. That was okay though, they were probably right through that door. Only that door was locked. Umm, okay, she'd go back the way she came, and hope that she could find someone who could help her. She turned around and came to an abrupt halt after only one step. Two doors.

Jaci stood and studied the two doors for a few moments. Which one had they come through? Or had there been two doors for them to pass through? She couldn't remember if the last room had two doors leading from it. "Well, it was probably the door that was on the same side of the room as me, right?" Jaci unknowingly spoke aloud. 

Just because it makes logical sense, doesn't mean it's the right door, a feminine voice whispered in her ear. Jaci whipped her head around, wondering if there was another person there that she had somehow missed seeing. She thought she saw a pink glow out of the corner of her eye, but as she turned around in a circle, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

'Great, I'm hearing voices now, and seeing things,' Jaci thought. 

The door you least suspect is the one you should try. Jaci decided to argue with the voice, out loud. She was sure that man in the tour group already thought she was a fruit loop, so why not?

"But if I suspect one door, you're telling me I should suspect the other. Then I have to start suspecting the other door again, and then I have to switch suspicions again and then…."

__

Stop.

"What?"

_Stop._

"Stop what?"

_Stop making this so complicated._

"So which door should I pick?"

_The door you least suspected **at first.**_

"Okay." Jaci walked over to the door on the other side of the room. "This better lead to a way out of this place."

_It leads to where you need to go._

Jaci paused with her hand on the door knob. "That's just cryptic enough to make me nervous."

_Just open the door._

"Here goes nothing," Jaci muttered. "I can always come back and take the other door if it's not the right one, right?"

_Hee hee hee._

"Great, a disembodied voice is giggling. I am so comforted."

TBC…..Babylon 5 is coming, I promise. Sorry for the insanity, by the way. I can't help myself. Please review. 


	2. But I Thought You Were Dead

Chapter 2: But I Thought You Were Dead

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Babylon 5, but I do own Jaci. Also own the disembodied voice. 'Nuff said.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, the door is open and I'm still alive. This is good," Jaci said.

_What, you thought the door was going to kill you?_

"Hey, after that maniacal laughter, I didn't know what was going to happen."

_You yourself called it giggling just twenty seconds ago._

"So the disembodied voice is a stickler for details. Remember that for future reference," Jaci said as she took several steps into the room. "I don't suppose you'll tell me who you are, or even what you are, will you?"

_I am a friend._

"Ah, a friend. What should I call you?"

_It does not matter._

"So I can basically call you anything I want. Are you going to stick around for awhile, by the way?"

_I'll be here when you need me. _

"Thanks, but that didn't really answer my question. Hey, I don't think the tour was in here. You said I should pick that door," she gestured over her shoulder vaguely, "and now I'm in the wrong place."

_No. You're in the right place._

"What? This isn't the right place! There isn't even anyone in here to help me get out of here."

_Yes there is._

"Where?" Jaci whipped her head around wildly. The disembodied voice heaved a sigh.

_See that long box in the middle of the room?_

"Yeah?"

_Open it._

"Uh, no."

_Why not?_

"Because you're making it sound like the person that's supposed to help me is in that box, and that's just weird. Plus, the person will probably jump up and scare me, and I don't want to be scared."

_Will you just open the box?_

"Can you guarantee that I won't be scared?"

_Well, umm, you'll probably be surprised…._

"That isn't exactly encouraging."

_You want to be stuck in this building forever?_

"No."

_Then open the box._

"Okay, fine." Jaci took a deep breath and prayed. "Please don't let whoever it is in the box be dead." She looked at the box. "Um, how am I supposed to open this?"

Once again the voice sighed. _Push the blue button._

"Oh, okay." She pushed the blue button, and the lid popped off. She peered inside. And then screamed. "He's dead! Oh my gosh! I opened a box with a dead guy in it!"

_He's not dead. Well he was, but he's not now._

"He was, but he's not now? What are you talking about?"

_You prayed, just like I hoped you would._

"But I didn't pray for God to bring him back to life."

_But you did pray for him to not be dead. God does have a sense of humor you know._

The man sat up and shook his shoulder length dark hair. "What is going on? Who are you? And who are you talking to?" The man appeared to have a British accent. He looked down at himself. "I should be dead."  


"You were," Jaci told him. Now that he was sitting up, she could get a better look. "Hey! You're Marcus from Babylon 5! This is just weird."

The disembodied voice could be faintly heard giggling.

TBC…..See, I said B-5 was coming. And there is more to come. I suppose I should apologize for the insanity once again. I really am sorry folks. Please review.


	3. But I Thought That Was TV

Chapter 3: But I Though That Was TV

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own the characters of Babylon 5, but I do own Jaci and the disembodied voice. 

Here's more guys, and don't worry, more characters will be showing up. Marcus isn't the only one who going to get to have fun. Oh, and this story shows no signs of becoming normal anytime soon. Just so you know.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Marcus raised one eyebrow. "Why is this just weird? I mean aside from the obvious, me being dead… thing."

Jaci sighed. "Babylon 5 was a TV show. Not real. But here you are, and freshly back from the dead. Weird."

Marcus appeared to mull this over for a few moments. Then he looked around. "Where am I?"

Jaci thought hard, trying to remember the name of the building they were in. "Ummm, not Babylon 5."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Hey, don't roll your eyes at me. You were a dead a few minutes ago, and I'm not freaking out. I think I deserve some respect."

"But all you can tell me about where I am is 'not Babylon 5'. Shouldn't you know, considering you're here too?"

"My, my, my. You're grumpy for getting at second chance at life." Jaci's brow wrinkled as she thought. "To be honest with you, I can't recall the name of the building we're in. You see, I was on a tour, this informative tour thing. This is a scientific facility, and part of the tour was on outer space. You know, I'm surprised you weren't in that building. The one that had to do with outer space, I mean."

"Wait." Marcus threw up a hand to stop the tirade of what was probably useless information for him. "Am I on Earth? And you never told me who you were talking to when I, err, woke up."

"Yes, and I don't know."

"You don't know? You're a fount of information."

"If I weren't feeling a little weirded out by this all, I would be insulted by your sarcasm. You see, from what I can tell, I was talking to a disembodied voice."

"Hmmm, that's interesting. Well, would you mind giving me a hand?"

Jaci looked blankly at his hand for a moment before she realized he wanted help getting out of the box. She eyed him speculatively as he brushed himself off. "I wonder if this is all a dream."

He glanced at her. "I'm wondering if this is some sort of strange after life. I suppose I should get out of here and to Babylon 5. Since it's your fault I'm back from the dead, I'm dragging you along."

"It's not my fault…wait. Babylon 5 is real?"

"It was when I died." Marcus quirked an eyebrow.

"Wow. This vacation may turn out to be interesting after all."

_Aren't you glad you listened to me?_

"That, I take it, was the disembodied voice."

"Yep. And yep. Hey, Disembodied Voice, are you going to come too?" Jaci asked.

_Yes, I think I shall come along. This is all very amusing._

"Glad you think so," Marcus said dryly. He looked around in the same fashion that Jaci had when looking for the source of the voice. He looked vaguely defeated after a moment. "Perhaps we should get going." Marcus motioned toward the door.

"So you're still planning on kidnapping me?"

_It's not kidnapping if you're willing, and you did want something interesting to do during your vacation._

"Listen to Disembodied Voice. It's smart," Jaci informed Marcus.

"It was talking to you."

Jaci waved a dismissive hand. "I know that. I meant, if Disembodied Voice tells you anything, listen. It's a smart voice."

Marcus looked amused. "I'll keep that in mind."

TBC…Hopefully I'll get them out of that room in the next chapter. Once again, I apologize for the insanity. Hopefully it won't take me too long to update again.


	4. But I Thought You Were An Idiot

Chapter 4: But I Thought You Were An Idiot

Disclaimer: Don't own Babylon 5. *sniffles* I'm not that special. I do own Jaci and Disembodied Voice, however. Also own Confused Man.

Author's Note: It's been over two months since I last updated. *ahem* Life has sort of been getting in the way. Being a college student, I had to write all these papers and do all this homework. They just didn't understand that I had better things to do. So please don't hunt me down and beat me for being so slow. I am out for the summer, so hopefully the updating will be more frequent. If you have been reading my story, and just decided to skip to this chapter when you saw I updated, go back. I have edited the first three chapters, and while the editing did not make any huge changes (i.e. the plot), I think you should see what I have changed before you go on. Oh, one more thing. The titles of the chapters have been from Jaci's POV, but this one I figured could be from Marcus' POV (mostly because I couldn't come up with anything else).

~~~~~~~~~

"So, how are you planning on getting to Babylon 5 from here?" Jaci whispered as she and Marcus sneaked through the building in what they hoped was the right direction. Disembodied Voice seemed to have deserted them for the moment, or at least had run out of things to say.

"Well, someone here must know how I got here."

"So you're just going to waltz up to someone and announce yourself? You might freak them out, considering you're supposed to be dead."

"I know that." Marcus sounded a little irritated. "I'm not an idiot."

"Of course you aren't. So what are you going to do when you find some officious person who can help you out?"

"What is this? Twenty questions?"

"You know that game? I never figured on y'all playing that up in space."

Marcus heaved a sigh. "I'm considering strangling you and stashing your body in one of those supply closets."

"The supply closets are probably locked. What will you do with my body then?"

Marcus ignored her. "Aha!"

"Aha? That's good, right?"

"Yes it is. I recognize this sequence." Marcus pointed to a number on a nameplate of what looked to be an office.

"So it's a code? Shouldn't they change those periodically? I would think you've been dead long enough for them to change things." Jaci was starting to feel nervous. What if they both got into a lot of trouble and messed something big up? What exactly they would mess up, she wasn't sure, but she still was nervous.

_I was wondering when you would get here,_ Disembodied Voice said, sounding bored. _I was beginning to think I would have to come get you and lead you to this office._

"If you knew we had to come here, why didn't you tell us that in the first place?" Marcus was looking extremely irritated. His second chance at life was not going well so far. The only life-forms he had come into contact with so far were a girl who seemed to be a complete idiot and a disembodied voice who didn't see fit to give him the slightest clue where to go when she, or it, or whatever it was **knew**….

I figured it would be much more rewarding for you if you found this office by yourselves.

Jaci thought she saw a pink glow off to her right, but as she glanced over, it disappeared. She turned her head back to look at Marcus, whose face was turning an unflattering shade of maroon. "Let's go inside and see if we find anyone who can help you get back to Babylon 5, shall we?"

Marcus turned his anger-glazed eyes towards Jaci, and the maroon subsided a bit. "Why not? Whomever's office this is has to be more help than this voice of yours."

_I don't belong to her,_ Disembodied Voice said huffily. _I am my **own** entity, thank you very much._

"Um, guys? Can we stop arguing and explain to this nice confused-looking man why we are standing in front of his office door? Besides, I think if the two of you keep bickering, he'll just throw us out without waiting for an explanation, and **then** where will we be? Aside from outside the building, I mean."

The confused man, who was balding, glanced from Marcus to Jaci and then looked around as if he were expecting another person. His gaze wandered back to Marcus and his look of confusion morphed into one of horror as he realized who was standing before him.

"How did you…I mean, shouldn't you…you're supposed to be…." Confused Man was so flustered that he couldn't spit out a full sentence.

Jaci took pity on him. "Don't worry. There's an explanation though it might not seem logical. Can we step inside your office? I don't think it would be a good idea to discuss this out in the hallway where anyone could overhear."

"Oh…yes…come in." Confused Man stepped out of the doorway so that Jaci and Marcus could move inside.

Marcus gave Jaci an appraising look. "So you do have a brain in that head of yours after all."

"You didn't think I did?"

"Well, you have been rather…flighty."

Jaci sighed. "I know I can be an airhead, but I haven't been that bad so far, have I?" After glancing at Marcus' face, she quickly added, "That was a rhetorical question. You don't have to answer." She was afraid he was going to anyways when he opened his mouth, but Confused Man interrupted.

"Can I have that explanation now? I'm not really sure I like having a guy who is supposed to be dead standing in my office, and I might feel better about it if there is some reasoning to it."

Jaci turned to Marcus. "You know how you said you weren't going to waltz up to someone and freak them out? I think you lied, because he looks freaked."

"So your intelligent moments only occur once in a while?" Marcus retorted.

"The explanation?" Confused Man tried again.

"Right. Jaci, how about you start, since it's your fault we're here."

Jaci bristled. "It's not my fau…." She stopped as both men glared at her. "Fine. Well, you see…." 

TBC…Another chapter finished. I am oddly proud of myself. This was a bit less insane, don't you think? Review please, and let me know what you're thinking.


	5. But I Thought This Would Be An Easy Job

Chapter 5: But I Thought This Would Be An Easy Job

Disclaimer: I don't own Babylon 5; no matter how much I wish I did. I do, however, own the character of Jaci (so please don't steal her), Disembodied Voice (also, please don't steal--but you can borrow if you ask nicely and credit me) and Confused Man (who will actually have a real name in this chapter).

AN: Thanks for the lovely reviews! The title is from C.M.'s POV.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Confused Man sat behind his desk looking rather shell-shocked. "So you mean to tell me Marcus Cole is now alive again because of a thoughtless prayer on your part and there is a disembodied voice following you around?"

"Yep. That's pretty much it." Jaci felt a bit sorry for Confused Man. She was pretty sure that he didn't see dead people walking around everyday. She felt even more sorry when Confused Man cradled his head in his hands.

Confused Man took a few calming breathes and lifted his head. "You found my office because of the coding beside the door?" Marcus inclined his head. "I guess I should be glad then that the new coding I've been asking for hasn't come in yet, or you might have burst into who knows where and then the fat would really be in the fire."

"Why is all of this a big secret? I mean, if we are so advanced that there are space stations in other solar systems, why does most of the population of the earth think that human kind has only managed to set foot on the moon so far?"

"It's rather complicated, and I'm not the best person to answer that. I'm rather far down on the chain, which is why I'm only in charge of the few things we have in this area. One of which you stumbled upon and brought back to life."

Marcus didn't like being called a thing, but he had bigger issues to think about at the moment. "So, when can you get me to Babylon 5?"

"So you're not taking me now?" Jaci asked, feeling slightly hurt. 

Confused Man hastily interrupted before the verbal match could begin. "It's not that simple. You were declared dead on the station, and once again by scientists here. There was going to be a study on your body to try to better understand the workings of the machine that transferred all of your life force to another human being."

"Susan," Marcus murmured so low that Confused Man couldn't hear him.

"Now, that study is at a stand still before it even began. It may be changed to study how it is that you're alive again, after just over two years…"

"I've been dead two years?"

"Yes." Confused Man, over the course of the conversation, had moved from being shell-shocked to being in control of the situation. "You have been here for most of that time, waiting for the study to be organized and properly funded. Now, the study might be completely null, but I can't let you go traipsing off without discussing this with those that I answer to."

"I understand." Marcus hesitated, and then asked, "Did it work? The machine? Or did it just kill me?"

"It worked. I don't know all the specifics, but the woman you were trying to save did not die. That day at least."

"Is she still alive now?" 

"I don't know. We can find out for you though."

"Thank you. I would appreciate that very much."

Confused Man turned back to Jaci. "About this disembodied voice…. Have you noticed anything unusual when you've heard it?"

"Well, I have noticed this pink glow out of the corner of my eye a few times, but when I turn my head, there's nothing there."

Marcus gaped at her. "You never said anything about a pink glow!"

"You never asked." Jaci shrugged and turned back to Confused Man. "Does that help at all?"

"It might. Of course, this could be a completely new life form that we're dealing with."

Jaci thought she heard a snort and looked at Marcus, but he was still gaping at her. It was Disembodied Voice then; but it evidently didn't feel like talking at the moment.

"I need to contact my superior and figure out what we're going to do with the two of you." Confused Man shifted his chair so that he was directly in front of what looked like an ordinary desktop pc. When he punched a few keys and the screen flickered, Jaci got the feeling that the computer was not ordinary by the average human standards. 

"Yes?" A pleasant female voice emitted from the pc's speakers. Jaci couldn't see the screen from where she was seated, but she had a feeling that the visage that the voice belonged to was on it.

"Chris McHenry here. I need to speak with the good doctor, if he isn't in the middle of something important."

"I will patch you through," the mystery woman replied.

Chris McHenry. So that was Confused Man's real name. Jaci decided to just call him C.M. in her head so she didn't actually call him Confused Man out loud to his face. That could cause some embarrassment for both her and C.M.

"Dr. Althea here. What's up, Chris? I know that look."

"We have a problem. Remember that corpse we were holding here for our pending study?"

"Yeah, you guys have that Marcus Cole guy right? Or is that San Francisco?"

"No, that's us. He's not a corpse anymore."

"What?" The voice of Dr. Althea sounded a bit worried. "Nothing destroyed it, I hope?"

"No, no. The body's fine. A little too fine."  


"What's that mean?"

"He's not dead anymore. Plus, we've got non-band player."

Jaci wondered if she heard him right. "Excuse me? Did you just call me a non-band player?"

C.M. glanced at her. "Er, yes. It's sort of slang…I'll explain in a few minutes." C.M. turned back to the screen. "It's been an interesting half-hour. "

"I'd say." The voice of Dr. Althea now was a cross between amused and worried. "I'll be there in an hour, Chris. Less if I can pull it off. Who knew that your little outpost would be the one having all the fun?"

The light bathing C.M.'s face from the screen was abruptly gone as Dr. Althea clicked off. "Yeah, all the fun," C.M. said to himself. 

TBC…as always, review please!


End file.
